In my goal to play every horror game out there, I recently have stumbled upon some small niche audience that I didn't even know existed and was at first confused by; a cult audience of people following and making RPG Maker games. Now, RPG Maker has existed for a long time. It even has had console versions, and traces all the way back to 1992 (technically 1988), essentially being one of the easiest game creation tools used to make 2D RPG games in a simplified matter that's like a mixture between a sim game in itself of game creation, and an actual game creation tool. Recently, it has added a lot of features and now is more of a game creation tool than ever, even to the point where you can make games with it you can sell to the public.
Still, it is one of the easiest game development engines designed to let people who don't know a lot about coding to make games. As such, I and I'm sure plenty of others had written it off. One of the biggest faults of older RPG Maker games is that a lot of them could end up feeling pretty samey, since they all used the same engine.
However, over the last couple of months and discovery of some praised indie horror games in the community, I've delved deeper into the subject, and have come back with some gameplay experiences, most of which that are free, that I have never experienced as a gamer. With that, I have become impressed with some of the more deliberate efforts some have taken to make their games. A growing trend is making horror or adventure games with RPG Maker, as its new features and tools allow you to go beyond the expected uses of the program with some creativity. I almost never see these games talked about outside of these small niche circles, but there's almost a stupid amount of fan art, music remixes, fan animations, and even fan games made of some of the more popular games in these circles. But I now completely understand, some of these games really do provide experiences that are completely different than almost any game I've ever played. Or maybe more accurately, it's sort of filling a niche that I though disappeared with the PS2/Gamecube/Dreamcast era. A sort of type of game style that I can't quite pinpoint in words, but existed very strongly with RPG, Horror, and Adventure games in the 90s and early 2000s.
I want to make a topic that's focused on the indie RPG Maker games, free or otherwise, that stand of high quality and are completely worth checking out. I've checked this board, and there's not been a topic on RPG Maker games really ever since a few years ago. This is also inspired as recently RPG Maker has gone on sale on Steam, and might bring more attention to the product, to provide people with works made in the program and what it can do with some creativity.
If you have played any games that you think should be added, I'll check them out and add them to the list if they do indeed stick out. I want to get some discussion going about these games and bring attention to some of these strange wonders that are coming out.
If you need any help launching any of these games, refer to the FAQ at the bottom of this post before you post asking a question.
This list and topic are still a work in progress; more will be added over time.
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CATEGORY: Exploration Games
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Exploration Games are RPG Maker games that have a focus on exploring, which have become much more popular after the success of Yume Nikki. While many are often based on dreams, this also includes story-based games where the story and exploring are the main points of the game.
Yume Nikki
Yume Nikki Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mcp_XX0ews
Yume Nikki is a free adventure game about dreams. This game is still -technically- unfinished, but has a high level of quality in its current version (version 0.10) and can be played from beginning to end (the creator apparently wants to one day add more to the game). It originally came out in 2005, but it only started to get a lot of attention in 2008, when the game was picked up by the most popular Japanese gaming board, which helped spread it to even English-speaking audiences. The game has become big enough to inspire a ton of fan-made content, and official merchandise in Japan.
In the game, you play as a girl named Madotsuki. The game takes a lot of visual inspirations from Mother 3, but has a completely open style of design. Initially to new players, there may be no clear goal. You start off in a room, unable to leave, but can fiddle around with things, or play a Super Nintendo game about eggplants, and eventually go off to sleep. When you sleep is when the game really begins, soon you'll find yourself in a room full of doors, each of which leading to completely different surreal area. You can explore freely, with a surprisingly large amount of deeper areas and doors hidden away to go even deeper into your dreams. Each area has its own train of logic you have to crack and figure out, like a dream. Soon you'll probably interact with a strange object or character and gain something called an 'effect'. Going to your menu, you can equip the effect and transform Madotsuki in some sort of way. Some of these effects give you special powers, some are completely aesthetic, but the goal is to collect all 24. However, not all is safe here in the world of dreams, as there are nightmare areas and stalkers of sorts who will try to catch you, and will wake you up from your dream the moment you're caught.
The game has a lot of symbolism and does a great job capturing the feeling of a dream. It has inspired a TON of fan games and works, and remains one of the most popular RPG Maker games. It has a lot of secrets hidden away in the game, and lots of surprises for those who decide to travel to Madotsuki's dreamscae. Worth checking out if you're a fan of exploring in games, surreal or 'experience' games, or if the whole concept just sounds intriguing. You can read up more on the game and download it from here.
-Palette- Forget me not
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CiQPeW06u0
Palette was originally released in Japan in the mid-90s, and won an award at the Fourth ASCII Entertainment Software Contest, granting the creator 10 million yen. With that money, he went on to remake his game and release it on the PS1 in Japan in 2001. This game is very unknown at this time, but of very high quality. The reason in big part is as the game is rather text-heavy, and has never been translated (officially or by fans) for any language outside of Japanese.
The game stars a girl, referred to as B.D., whom apparently turned amnesiac by an accident, restore her memory as a well-known psychiatrist, Dr. Shian. Players essentially control B.D. in the scenery of her memory, which constitutes a maze with rooms and passages. In exploration, there are two modes of gameplay; in one mode, maps are colored in black and white often sprinkled with bright red, that denotes for example blood, with a noise continuously ringing, in which players can go between maps. With B.D. moving to another map, the gauge shown on the right side of the screen decreases one by one, it occurs also when B.D. touches barriers that are placed occasionally in maps. When the said gauge reached the bottom line, B.D. claims headache, and players would be sent back to the map of Shian's office. Shian would call her again to continue the game.
You can download the original free version of the game and its update patches here. You can download the game's English translation here.
As you can't really play the game without knowing Japanese (and there is very little about the game online currently), you can watch a Japanese Let's Play of the original version here, and the PS1 remake here.
.flow
.flow Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi-CNeZ-jU0
.flow is one of the most popular fan games of Yume Nikki, with a similar high level of quality, but much darker with more horror elements and strange dream-world rules. Essentially, if you liked Yume Nikki you will most likely enjoy this game, though there are a few differences between the two outside of different locations and effects. There are more secrets and puzzles involving your powers in .flow, as well as more ways to end your dream early, including some pretty tense nightmare scenes you can stumble across.
You can read up more about the game and download it here.
Miserere
Miserere Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpg-9PAywBw
More of an adventure exploration game but still with the theme of dreams, in Miserere you are in a space station far away from the world and living day by day taking care of maintenance and entertaining yourself. Recently, though, you've been having the same dream every night. As you find keys in your dreams and open up new areas, things begin to happen in reality and things get progressively more and more strange and creepy... This is a game for the exploration lovers out there, but also for horror fans. It is inspired by Yume Nikki, but different enough that it can't really be considered a clone.
You can read more about Miserere and download it from here.
Yume 2kki
Yume 2kki Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaUu7qMmwWk
Yume 2kki is an unofficial sequel to Yume Nikki, featuring a different protagonist but same type of gameplay. It is one of the most popular Yume Nikki fan games, and for good reason. It is made with very high quality, attention to detail, content, and has probably been the most consistently updated fan game based off of Yume Nikki. Worth it for those who enjoy Yume Nikki type of games.
You can download the game and learn more about it here.
Lisa
Lisa Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKMBysD8cWg
Lisa is a surrealistic game about abuse & love. A very recent game, the game features a girl named Lisa who is collapsing over her own stress and fears, entering a surreal world of her own figmentation to escape reality. Not very long, but definitely an interesting experience. Again for fans of exploration, but also strange symbolism and surrealism. Or just someone who wants to be weirded out.
You can check out the game here.
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CATEGORY: Survival-Horror Games
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Survival-Horror games are adventure games where you are under threat. With atmosphere, puzzles, and scary scenes, the games are meant to put you on edge, but with multiple layers of gameplay to make you think to progress and survive.
Ib
Ib Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnburNVFCd0
Ib is the story of a girl of the same nam going with her family to an Art Museum where displays by a famous artist known as Guertena are on exhibition. However, while wandering the art museum, Ib soon finds herself alone and, shortly, is lead to enter into a painting. On the other side, she finds a whole world of abstract and strange rooms and puzzles that she seems trapped in. Wielding a rose that seems to represent her life, she must survive the trials of this strange painting world and try to find an escape, soon with allies that also seem trapped in the painting, slightly flamboyant and courageous coward Garry, and fun-loving but slightly needy little girl Mary.
The game has a tense atmosphere at the beginning, but becomes more interesting and puzzle-focused the deeper you get into it. With multiple endings and a rather short length, this free game is worth it for those who like exploration or puzzle based horror games, or an interesting 2D adventure game. The creator seems to want to expand more on this universe in the future.
Can download the game here.
The Witch's House
Witch's House Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPDNqyQ22Yo
A free survival-horror adventure game where you play as a girl, known as Viola, going into a trap-ridden house that is run by a witch. Surviving in this place is not easy, there are all all sorts of demented and varied traps, monsters, puzzles, and rooms in the house, though you must find a way to break the spell and escape. With a surprisingly impacting story and a series of ridiculous but great death scenes for when you die (and you will die... A lot), it really is both a very tense and entertaining endeavor into the depths of the Witch's den. For those who like horror or survival-adventure games, and actually can be quite scary and heart-wrenching.
You can download the English version of the game here.
You can check out the games original Japanese website here.
Ao Oni
Ao Oni Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1t73s-D4vI
A Korean horror comedy game starring a giant purple monster. Featuring a group of teens who explore a nearby mansion hearing that it's haunted, they get trapped in with a creature known as Ao Oni (Blue Demon) who begins to pick them off and troll them through the mansion and nearby buildings. You play as Hiroshi, who must solve puzzles and survive to save his friends and escape.
The game is surprisingly atmospheric, with the monster able to pop up any time to start chasing you, along with a series scripted moments. The game trolls you a lot, but has a charm that makes you want to just keep on going despite how much shit it throws at you. Has many different versions with new additions and puzzle solutions, and a stupid amount of fan games (it's big in Korea apparently).
You can find out more about the game and download its many different versions and hundreds of fan games here.
Corpse Party
Corpse Party 2010 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfkeahnIzvg
Corpse Party started out as a free 1996 game, which has recently revitalized itself with a remake, spin-off, and upcoming sequel on the PSP/Vita, and PC in Japan. The game stars a group of students who are one night after a festival sharing ghost stories at the school. Sad about not being able to stay together forever, they make a wish with a paper doll, and shortly get consumed by a hole opened up by a giant Earthquake. They find themselves in an old abandoned school their current school was supposed to be built over, and soon get involved in a series of dangerous games with the spirits that linger here for survival.
The version the most note-worthy is the recent PSP/PC remake, though its not free. There is a free version you can try available in the link below, but its remake is truly worth checking out as it improves over the original in about every way with a lot of new content. Worth checking out for anyone who likes scary games.
You can find out more about the game, download the older free versions, and more over here.
Hidden in the Shadows 1 & 2
Hidden in the Shadows II Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riNEYrJfHGw
Heavily inspired by Ao Oni, Hidden in the Shadows is a game brimming with darkness where you, after a friend who disappeared suddenly, explore a strange castle... But you're not alone. With puzzles and survival tactics, you must find your escape from the castle!
These games are quite scary, though not bug free. Still, I believe it is worth experiencing as they do a great job with atmosphere and the monster is actually quite terrifying. The sequel improves over the original in a lot of ways, as well.
You can check out Hidden in the Shadows 1 here, and Hidden in the Shadows 2 here.
Mad Father
Mad Father Gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-w1wQ4bYKM
A girl who loves her father finds her and her family caught under a demented curse that is bringing back the corpses of people her dad has experiment on seeking revenge. Utilizing a lot of interesting mechanics, but also drawing inspiration from other titles like Ib and Witch's House, it is an creepy journey with an often surprising story, as well as quite a bit original art that is quite well-made. Worth it for anyone who like horror games or game with a stronger darker story.
Can download Mad Father here.
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CATEGORY: Visual Novel/Story Games
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Visual novels are games that are more books, often with choices, than proper games, but with the use of visuals and audio to help tell its story. Some of these games have deeper gameplay than that, but the whole point of the game is to experience the story (or get the girl).
To The Moon
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqkJuSV-23U
Available on Steam, To The Moon is a story-based adventure game that stars two doctors, Dr. Watts & Dr. Eva, coming to the house of a man named Johnny who, on his death bed, wants to get his memories reworked so that he will believe he went to the moon before he died. He doesn't remember why, but all he knows is that he wants it done. Under a time limit, you play as Watts and Eva as they use a futuristic technology to virtually travel into and alter his memories. With an amazing soundtrack and emotionally charged story, the game has received a lot of praise both from gamers and critics. I don't want to say too much for spoilers, but if you like story-based games or have a soft spot for quirky adventure games, you should definitely give this one a shot.
You can check out the Steam page here.
And the game's official website here.
Cherry Tree High Comedy Club
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08pItQiNBv4
Comedy fanatic and high school student Miley Verisse has decided to set up a comedy club in her school, but her nemesis and the head of the student council, Octavia Richmond, isn’t about to make things easy… The school rules require a minimum of 5 students to set up a new club and Miley is 3 people short! Spring break has just started and Miley has until the end of April to recruit the 3 new members she needs to start the club or Octavia will have the last laugh!
The game takes on a very Persona-esque look and feel of the social linking done in that series, but with a style that's completely surrounded around that. Published by Capcom, the translation was helped on by part of the Team that did the translations for the Ace Attorney series, and the tone they bring fits the game perfectly. This game isn't free, but worth checking out for people who are particularly interested in visual novels as most of what you do is explore, interact, and manage your time.
You can check out the games Steam page here.
You can check out the games official website here.
